Trip Report – Dublin, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta

[CJD]

JDB wrote:

Guerrero state where Acapulco is, has been rather lawless for a while

One might even say they’ve been going loco down in Acapulco.

[JDB]

CJD wrote:

JDB wrote:

Guerrero state where Acapulco is, has been rather lawless for a while

One might even say they’ve been going loco down in Acapulco.

Indeed! Quite a shame really as the setting of Acapulco is stunning although I think it’s quite built up now as well as dangerous. There’s nowhere like it elsewhere in Mexico. Back in the 80’s it was one of the world’s most glamorous destinations, but then so was Beirut!

[E]

NorthernLass wrote:

Probably should add, there’s a long list of areas which the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to (including over land to Zihuatanejo, which @JDB has mentioned previously).

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico

Hard to see if Troncones is in the safe bubble. Just thinking of travel insurance if we go there and it’s not…

[JDB]

@E – Troncones and the area a bit beyond like La Saladita would appear to be covered by the advisory of ‘all but essential travel’ as the only exclusion in that green circle is the immediate area around Zihua and Ixtapa. The text suggests that even Playa Blanca might not be covered.

For Troncones, it’s rather extraordinary as not only is it a very beautiful place, with great swimming around Manzanillo Bay but it’s incredibly tranquil (a bit over American though) and has become quite a cult surfer paradise for loads of foreigners. Makes a great day trip from Zihua.

[E]

Thanks @JDB. That’s a shame as we liked the look of Troncones.

[NorthernLass]

I’ve been finding it quite difficult to get a true picture of crime and security as I think it’s under-reported so as not to put off tourists, plus most of the local media sources seem to require a subscription.

PV is full of older Americans from what we’ve seen so far, which usually means a place is safe as they seem to be very risk averse when travelling, despite their own domestic issues with violent crime. However, I have found partial news reports about several shootings in the town recently and increased cartel activity due to demand for drugs by tourists, who clearly don’t know or care that they are directly funding murder, torture and kidnapping!

[JDB]

E wrote:

Thanks @JDB. That’s a shame as we liked the look of Troncones.

Yes, it is a beautiful spot and great wildlife as well. I think we will still go back for our eighth trip next year, but will stick to doing a few day trips to Troncones.

@NorthernLass – there are lots of American and Canadian retirees all over Mexico – they represent a very significant part of the population in some popular and attractive towns such as San Miguel de Allende and on the west coast. You can live like a king in Mexico on quite modest US/Canadian pensions and savings, as well as having nice house and possibly better health.

[NorthernLass]

Yes and you can’t blame them – similar to retired Brits and other Northern Europeans in the Canaries and Costas!

Would you be insured, @JDB, if you went to one of these areas and suffered a mishap?

I haven’t done much apart from sit on the beach and swim for the past couple of days. I love watching the pelicans and other birds coming and going and watching the sun sparkle on the sea.

From what I’ve gathered PV is a bit of an LGBT Mecca as well as a retirement community (which IME usually means tolerant, progressive and welcoming to all), and also a magnet for arty types.

OH has been on a dive trip today and said there was a lot of security and drug dogs at the port searching everyone who was getting on a boat so they seem to be making a serious effort to keep out the cartels.

There were 2 insanely huge cruise ships in port yesterday, they had such massive cinema screens on the top decks you could actually see the picture from about half a mile away!

We did a week’s food & alcohol shop for just over £100 and Happy Hour cocktails are about £3 – most things here seem to be tremendous value compared to the Caribbean and (recently) the USA!

[Gordon]

On the subject of drug crime,

Crime linked to drug dealing has been as far afield as Cancun for some time now, the below news link, just one example of many, was an incident in Puerto Morelos in 2021.

I am using this as an example because we stayed at this property a few months after this happened, and the hotel had a very low occupancy, which in one respect was good, it was mostly Americans scared away by this incident, judging by the research we carried out after.

While we were sat on the beach, there were regular army patrols of around 10 carrying side arms and machine guns,
Also an army helicopter flew along the coastline very low a couple of times a day!

We have visited Mexico and Cancun several times now, and never felt in danger, we will return one year after visiting other parts of the world first.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/04/cancun-tourists-luxury-hotel-gunmen-reports

[JDB]

NorthernLass wrote:

Yes and you can’t blame them – similar to retired Brits and other Northern Europeans in the Canaries and Costas!

Would you be insured, @JDB, if you went to one of these areas and suffered a mishap?

I haven’t done much apart from sit on the beach and swim for the past couple of days. I love watching the pelicans and other birds coming and going and watching the sun sparkle on the sea.

Everyone needs to satisfy themselves re their insurance cover, but I think Troncones would be covered on looking at the wording of the policies and the fact it comes under the jurisdiction of the town of Zihuatanejo. The beaches and bays there are lovely with the backdrop of the mountains and better for swimming than many. Margaritas are 75 pesos there all day unless you want Cointreau in them instead of Controy when they are 100.

Have you seen any frigate birds? The males are rather extraordinary. Also growing numbers of roseate spoonbills in the lagoons that are also teeming with all sorts of egrets and herons as well as trees full of pelicans. Lots of hummingbirds. Really love all the iguanas.

[CJD]

Gordon wrote:

On the subject of drug crime,

Crime linked to drug dealing has been as far afield as Cancun for some time now, the below news link, just one example of many, was an incident in Puerto Morelos in 2021.

I am using this as an example because we stayed at this property a few months after this happened, and the hotel had a very low occupancy, which in one respect was good, it was mostly Americans scared away by this incident, judging by the research we carried out after.

While we were sat on the beach, there were regular army patrols of around 10 carrying side arms and machine guns,
Also an army helicopter flew along the coastline very low a couple of times a day!

We have visited Mexico and Cancun several times now, and never felt in danger, we will return one year after visiting other parts of the world first.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/04/cancun-tourists-luxury-hotel-gunmen-reports

Army patrols on the beach doesn’t scream ‘relaxed beach holiday’ vibes unfortunately.

[JDB]

@CJD – indeed! It’s worse than just these patrols which are an attempt to prevent tourists being caught up in drug gang violence but the vast numbers of tourists in the Cancún area bring plenty of other drug related crime as well as drink spiking, sexual assaults, mugging/thefts, prostitution, fake accident and other scams etc. The sargassum seaweed problem on crowded beaches is chucked in for free!

[Michael C]

@JDB – I fear your interview for the Cancún Tourist Board position is not going to go well!!

[JDB]

Michael C wrote:

@JDB – I fear your interview for the Cancún Tourist Board position is not going to go well!!

Yes, didn’t get through the initial screening stage! I could happily work for the Mexico (ex-Cancún/Baja/Ixtapa) Tourist Board. Those who have not followed the advice include my brother-in-law who was not only advised against, but if they must because they had supposedly got some great deal, not to go in August. They really hated it but were too lazy to move, so were stuck there for three weeks getting very bitten. They stood out as one of very few untattooed families.

A very good friend of my wife’s was persuaded by her two late teen boys to go there. This was much against her better judgement and my wife’s advice, so she was quite relieved that the boys really hated it and found it seriously uncool so they left after two days.

The trouble with some of these places, apart from being rather unpleasant, is that they have been totally de-Mexicanised.

[Scott]

NorthernLass wrote:

… a bit of an LGBT Mecca

Ha! I don’t think you could find a more inappropriate use of Mecca in that sense.

[NorthernLass]

Obviously I was referring to the famous bingo establishment, in fact there was bingo at the pool yesterday (which I resisted, along with aqua aerobics) 😜

@JDB, yes, flocks of frigate birds overhead, also Mexican and turkey vultures, plus some smaller, pretty birds (not seen a hummingbird yet).

There’s a restaurant in Grand Cayman called Tukka (great Australian fusion food!) where they feed the frigate birds at 5pm each day. The birds arrive in huge numbers at that time, creating quite a Hitchcockian scene!

Numerous green iguanas around the pool as well – I’m also rather fond of them, although the Cayman government decided they needed to be wiped out as an invasive species so they’ve mostly all been killed and eaten there in the past few years 😏

We’re off on a dive/snorkel trip today – OH went diving the other day, he said visibility was quite poor but there were lots of fish, a friendly sea lion, and a pod of whales to be seen!

[Michael C]

@JDB – the same of course goes for Spain. Very few people are keen to hear “you really shouldn’t go to the southern coast in August…”!

@Scott – excellent: will be stealing that, with your permission!

@NL – looking forward to hearing how the snorkelling went…and hope you’re back in time for the après-snorkel happy hour!

[Gordon]

JDB wrote:

@CJD – indeed! It’s worse than just these patrols which are an attempt to prevent tourists being caught up in drug gang violence but the vast numbers of tourists in the Cancún area bring plenty of other drug related crime as well as drink spiking, sexual assaults, mugging/thefts, prostitution, fake accident and other scams etc. The sargassum seaweed problem on crowded beaches is chucked in for free!

A quick google search, for the most dangerous countries to visit in the world, one of the top, shows Tijuana, Acapulco, Zamora, Manzanillo, Zacatecas, Ciudad Juarez, all in Mexico, maybe not all popular with tourists, but in the same country.
All with high murder rates!

I don’t think the Cancun tourist authority needs to worry too much about your negative contribution, as it’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world!

They are winning the war on the sargassum slowly, one of the causes is Warming seas, another result of global warming, tourists who fly to Mexico and Cancun contribute to this.

A lot of the drugs, drink spiking, theft you are referring to is mainly down to the spring break period, I think sensible people avoid March/April time!

As you say “crowded beaches” which is a giveaway to how popular Cancun is,
if people want to stay in a hotel in the strip where the crowded beaches are, then that’s their lookout, it’s not difficult to find plenty of nice hotels where you are not packed in like sardines.

Admittedly it’s not one of my favorite destinations, south east Asia takes that prize, but the few times I’ve visited, I’ve not stayed in the main hotel zone, and I have enjoyed my stay and felt save into the bargain.

I’ll quote Rhys in the below paragraph, after his stay at the Conrad Riviera Maya, in Q1 2023, I’ve also stayed there, and echo his sentiments.

“Despite a bit of a check-in nightmare, the service throughout the resort was the best I received during my entire stay in Mexico”

[Gordon]

@CJD – The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel!

[NorthernLass]

@Gordon, that sounds like a Bond line 😂
You’re generally only in danger if you’re a politician, cartel member or police/security services (or their family members). And as long as you haven’t upset any of the aforementioned individuals, you’ll probably be fine.

@Michael, it was unlimited beer & cocktails on our boat trip so we’re not too bothered about happy hour😮. Good job we were the only Brits 😂

Amazing day – the trip was with Vallarta Adventures to the Marietas Islands which are a protected reserve. It’s about an hour from PV and on the way there and back we saw a pod of Dolphins, a dozen or so humpback whales at a distance, and a pair of orcas swam around the boat for several minutes! (You have to just not think about the reason they’re here, which is because they hunt and eat baby whales 🙈)

The boat took divers and snorkellers, which was very handy for OH and me. The divers went off in a different boat and after a 30 minute snorkel, the captain sailed the rest of us around the islands, pointing out different species of nesting birds, including blue-footed boobies which will excite any twitchers here!

Then it was off to the very lovely Majahuitas beach, which looked like something out of Jurassic Park, for a brief stop and meet up with the divers. Finally, we moved a short way along the coast to Las Caletas where a very nice buffet had been laid on in a leafy grove. The trees were full of an exotic-looking chicken variant called chachalacas which did have a distinctly dinosaur-esque look to them 😂

The boat then took us back to PV, with the crew doing a highly entertaining performance of various rock and pop anthems while more beer and margaritas were handed out!

[JDB]

@NorthernLass – sounds like a great trip. Did you hear the chacalacas? It’s an extraordinary noise similar to their name. Not birds you want outside your bedroom window!

[NorthernLass]

Yes indeed, it added to the jungle vibe!

We were chatting to a nice young Mexican man on the boat and over lunch. He lives in Guadalajara and drives the 4 hours to PV when he has holidays to go diving. That would cross a FCDO yellow area, but he said it’s a lovely drive with great scenery!

Mexicans in general seem very relaxed about their country. It’s been so trouble-free so far (🤞), it’s quite surreal to think about what goes on in Tijuana and the like!

[NorthernLass]

Also, I’ve still not been bitten by anything, not even when I traipsed through the jungle to the baños, untouched by any kind of repellent. This is so utterly unusual that I’m starting to wonder if we’re actually dead, like in Lost 😂

[NorthernLass]

Another interesting discovery was that there is a sizeable Mennonite community in Chihuahua state who excel in dairy production (presumably this doesn’t clash with anything the cartels might be cultivating). I bought some of their queso Campo Menonita and it is indeed delicious!

[Gordon]

@NorthernLass – Sounds like you’re having a whale of a time! (Excuse the pun) scuba diving sounded like fun to me, so I tried it when we were in Thailand over the festive period of 2017, we took a speed boat from the beach in Koh Samui to Ko Pha Ngan, a good diving spot.

I tried but could not get on with it, I got as far as about 2 metres, a couple of times, and that was it, it’s the thought of being under water and breathing, so from that moment on i reverted to snorkeling.

All respect to the diving company, they did say if you come back, you can try again free of charge, but once was enough for me.

On the note of being in danger, due to the cartel drug wars, the most important one not on your list is the innocent tourist caught up in the cross fire, that could be any one of us, thankfully, although this has happens, it’s rare that a tourist is killed in this manner.